luis m. gonzalez

Windows Apps:
Since you said "professional looking" applications, I assume you mean
graphical interfaces (windows - GUI):
If so, I recomend PythonCard ( http://pythoncard.sourceforge.net/ ).
It is very easy to use, very similar to Visual Basic or Delphi (drag
and drop widgets on a form...).

Web Development:
An excellent choice for simple (and complex, but easy) web development
in Python is Karrigell ( http://pythoncard.sourceforge.net/ ). It is
not an IDE, but a web framework. The coding can de made with the
standard IDLE or simply notepad.

Books:
Learning Python 2nd Edition. Very good and complete introduction to
python.

Online resources:
A byte of Python (google this)
Dive into Python (for more experienced programmers)

Hope this helps...
Luis

luis m. gonzalez

Windows Apps:
Since you said "professional looking" applications, I assume you mean
graphical interfaces (windows - GUI):
If so, I recomend PythonCard ( http://pythoncard.sourceforge. net/ ).
It is very easy to use, very similar to Visual Basic or Delphi (drag
and drop widgets on a form...).

Web Development:
An excellent choice for simple (and complex, but easy) web development
in Python is Karrigell ( http://karrigell.sourceforge. net/ ). It is
not an IDE, but a web framework. The coding can de made with the
standard IDLE or simply notepad.

Books:
Learning Python 2nd Edition. Very good and complete introduction to
python.

Online resources:
A byte of Python (google this)
Dive into Python (for more experienced programmers)

Hope this helps...
Luis

cipherpunk@gmail.com

1. Whichever one works best for you, of course. There are lots of
editors and IDEs out there. I find myself coming back to Emacs and
jEdit the most, but there are a sizable number of vi partisans
(benighted heathens tho they be) and an increasing number of Eclipse,
Wing and Komodo partisans. Having tried all the free ones I could get
my mitts on... well, Emacs and jEdit serve my needs just fine. Your
mileage may vary significantly.

2-5 are all either IDE opinion questions, which I'll duck, or specific
technologies I don't use, which I'll duck. Resuming with 6...

_Core Python Programming_ is a reasonable read for a beginner. I
prefer Mark Lutz's _Programming Python_ 2nd Ed, though. _Learning
Python_ is also a good choice, but only for real beginners to
programming--if you already know a programming language, _Programming
Python_ is the better choice.

I use Beazley's _Python Essential Reference_ about once every couple of
days. Surprisingly, I use it more than _Python in a Nutshell_, but
that may be due more to the fact _PER_ is usually within closer reach.
They're both good references, with _PiaN_ being more heavyweight with
better coverage.

The _Python Cookbook_ is a great way to expand your knowledge of Python
and discover the weird and cool stuff you can do with it.